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Credit: LucasfilmObi-Wan Kenobi marks the return of Ewan McGregor to his iconic character, but new promotional images of the limited series that Star Wars fans missed showing the return of George Lucas’ greatest villain in 17 years.
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In just two months, Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen are returning to the Star Wars universe, reprising their iconic Star Wars characters in the Obi-Wan Kenobi limited series. The new Star Wars story begins ten years after the dramatic events of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005).
McGregor first appeared as the titular character in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999) and Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) — taking the role from icon Alec Guinness after his appearances in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977) and the original trilogy.
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In Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Darth Vader made his terrifying return, but it wasn’t Hayden Christensen’s Dark Sith Lord under the mask.
In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Christensen has broken his Star Wars silence and revealed a shocking first look at his Darth Vader:
First look at Hayden Christensen as Darth Vader in #ObiWanKenobi.
First look at Hayden Christensen as Darth Vader in #ObiWanKenobi
(via @EW) pic.twitter.com/SrleYGwlmv
— Culture Crave 🍿 (@CultureCrave) March 10, 2022
In February, it was reported that Hayden Christensen would be appearing as Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker in Obi-Wan Kenobi, with Lucasfilm utilizing de-aging technology to include flashback sequences of a younger Hayden Christensen.
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Seeing Hayden Christensen’s actual face will be like the Luke Skywalker reveal in The Mandalorian season two or Andrew Garfield/Tobey Maguire in Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), hence the absence of this Jedi Master in the official trailer:
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Every Star Wars fan did, in fact, get a sneak peek at Hayden Christensen’s Sith Lord Darth Vader in an exclusive photo from Entertainment Weekly, paired with an official statement from Christensen himself talking about his return to the Skywalker saga:
“We’re going to see a very powerful Vader.”
EW writes:
… We see Vader appearing to emerge from his meditation chamber, which begs the question: Since the meditation chamber allows the Sith Lord to remove his helmet (as seen in The Empire Strikes Back when poor Admiral Piett briefly admires the back of Vader’s scarred head before the helmet is lowered over it), might this mean we will catch a glimpse of Vader sans mask in Obi-Wan Kenobi?
“I wish I could tell you,” Christensen tells EW with a coy smile on his face. “I’m sworn to secrecy.”
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Kenobi series Joby Harold revealed the immense influence that Darth Vader will have on the series:
“His shadow is cast across so much of what we do. And the degree of his proximity to that shadow is something that we’ll discover. But he is very much a part of the show emotionally for Obi-Wan, and possibly beyond that as well.”
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Though Christensen wasn’t included in Vader’s appearance in Rogue One, he loved what they did with the character:
“I wasn’t a part of any of those conversations about Rogue One. But I loved what they did with it. The character predates me, and it’s always been a collective effort in a lot of ways. I thought it was brilliant.”
"I wasn't a part of any of those conversations about Rogue One. But I loved what they did with it. The character predates me, and it's always been a collective effort in a lot of ways. I thought it was brilliant."
— Hayden Christensen on Darth Vader in ROGUE ONE
(@EW) pic.twitter.com/KTLkyPKP7o
— Star Wars Stuff (@starwarstuff2) March 10, 2022
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Obi-Wan Kenobi marks the first time fans see Hayden Christensen’s Darth Vader character in 17 years, nearly two decades.
“The rematch of the century” teased by Kathleen Kennedy, director Deborah Chow, and Lucasfilm will be supported by Moses Ingram (Inquisitor Reva), Joel Edgerton (Uncle Owen), Bonnie Piesse (Beru Lars), Kumail Nanjiani, Indira Varma, Rupert Friend, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Sung Kang, Simone Kessell, and Benny Safdie.
More about Obi-Wan Kenobi
The story begins ten years after the dramatic events of “Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith,” where Obi-Wan Kenobi faced his most significant defeat—the downfall and corruption of his best friend and Jedi apprentice, Anakin Skywalker, who turned to the dark side as evil Sith Lord Darth Vader.
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McGregor recently stated that the most “annoying” part of returning to his Star Wars role was that he knew the series was happening years before Lucasfilm even announced its development in 2019:
“That was annoying. Every interview I ever did for, you know, years, people would say, ‘Well, are the rumors true?’ And I’d have to sort of, I’d have to lie. I’d have to say, ‘Well, you know, I don’t know. I’d be happy to play him one day again.’”
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The world of (Mark Hamill), (Carrie Fisher), (Harrison Ford), (James Earl Jones), Yoda (Frank Oz), Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein), (Ray Parker), (Boba Fett (/Temura Morrison), Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor), Jedi Knight Grogu (AKA “Baby Yoda”), Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff), Koska Reeves (Sasha Banks), Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen), and Moff Gideon’s (Giancarlo Esposito) the , the Death Star, and the Clone War.
Within the moving past : A (2016) or the controversial The Last Jedi (2018) as we dive into the or explore new realities of the Star Wars universe with each new or the upcoming like : 2 or .
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“Obi-Wan Kenobi” is directed by Deborah Chow and executive-produced by Kathleen Kennedy, Michelle Rejwan, Deborah Chow, Ewan McGregor, and Joby Harold.
Do you want to see more of Darth Vader? Let us know in the comments below!